ABSTRACT: The book is comprised of nineteen chapters written by scholars with expertise on immigrant families representing every corner of the globe — from Africa and India to Europe and Central America. In each chapter, the unique factors, processes, and worldviews which help shape and mold the immigrant experience are articulated, as are the strengths immigrant newcomers bring to America. In addition, beyond explicating the strengths of immigrant families, each of the nineteen contributing chapters focuses on the implications of these strengths for families, communities, and the culture. Thus, the book provides a springboard from which to answer the application and "what now" questions for those who work with immigrant families in a variety of capacities — from academicians and researchers to educators and human-service providers.

ABSTRACT: This comprehensive new edition clarifies current demographic data on immigration, addresses factors that influence linguistic transition and achievement, and explores evidence-based practices and policies.

ABSTRACT: This [book deals] with the impact of migration on family relations [and structure] and child [and adolescent] development. It also considers the policies that enhance or impede family links to US institutions...The chapters in this book address questions central to understanding the migrant experience and immigration policy. As long as migration to the US continues to grow, interest in migrant families and immigrant policies will remain very much in the public eye.

ABSTRACT: The shortcomings and assets of existing knowledge about educating immigrant students and their implications for serving immigrant populations traditionally underserved in U.S. public schools are addressed. How immigration interacts with race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, social class, and residential location is explored through current information on immigrants, the conceptualization of racial and ethnic socialization for immigrant children, and studying the educational experiences of immigrants. The first four chapters are an overview of factors and issues in immigration in the United States. They summarize the most current information on the socioeconomic, demographic, linguistic, and educational characteristics of U.S. immigrant children. The next two chapters examine the racial and ethnic identity reconstruction of immigrant minority children and its implications for their schooling. The following three chapters describe the different groups of people dominating current immigration, discussing groups by areas of geographic origin. Chapter 10 provides a brief review and summary to make recommendations and consider implications for policy and practice. The chapters are titled: (1) 'Immigration and Schooling in the United States'; (2) 'Families and Communities'; (3) 'Overcoming Language Barriers'; (4) 'Educational Attainment'; (5) 'Learning New Cultures'; (6) 'Learning in School'; (7) 'Hispanic Children'; (8) 'Asian Children'; (9) 'Caribbean and African Black Children'; and (10) 'The Future for Immigrant Students.' (Contains 11 tables, 15 figures, and 200 references.)

Websites

ABSTRACT: The International Institute of Minnesota is a 501(c)3 social service agency affiliated with the United Way and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). Their mission is to help new Americans achieve self-sufficiency and full membership in American life.

ABSTRACT: Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (BRYCS) strengthens the capacity of refugee-serving and mainstream organizations across the U.S. to ensure the successful development of refugee children, youth, and their families by providing technical assistance that is locally-driven, builds long-term capacity, and promotes collaboration at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

ABSTRACT: Explored the generality of developmental processes related to intergenerational value discrepancies across 701 families from immigrant and non-immigrant groups. In this study involving 471 immigrant families (197 Armenian, 103 Vietnamese, and 171 Mexican) and 230 non-immigrant families (95 African American and 135 European American), adolescents and parents reported their endorsement of values pertaining to family obligations. The authors examined similarities and differences at 3 levels of analysis, from the general to the group-specific. Results provide evidence for general developmental processes (family obligations were endorsed more by parents than by adolescents in all groups), processes associated with immigration (the intergenerational value discrepancy generally increased with time in the US), and processes that are unique to each ethnic group.

ABSTRACT: To construct a model of the influences on ethnic identity among adolescents in immigrant families, we surveyed adolescents and their parents from 81 Armenian families, 47 Vietnamese families, and 88 Mexican families. Adolescents completed measures of ethnic language proficiency, in-group peer social interaction, and ethnic identity. Parents completed a measure of support for cultural maintenance. Across all groups, ethnic language proficiency and in-group peer interaction predicted ethnic identity, and parental cultural maintenance predicted adolescent ethnic language proficiency. However, because of differences among the groups, a separate model was required for each ethnic group. The results suggest both common processes and group differences in the factors that influence ethnic identity.

ABSTRACT: The goal of this study was to determine the relative impact of family background, parental attitudes, peer support, and adolescents' won attitudes and behaviors on the academic achievement of students from immigrant families. Approximately 1,100 adolescents with Latino, East Asian, Filipino, and European backgrounds reported on their own academic attitudes and behaviors as well as those of their parents and peers. In addition, students' course grades were obtained from their official school records. Results indicated that first and second generation students received higher grades in mathematics and English than their peers from native families. Only a small portion of their success could be attributed to their socioeconomic background; a more significant correlate of their achievement was a strong emphasis on education that was shared by the students, their parents, and their peers. These demographic and psychosocial factors were also important in understanding the variation in academic performance among the immigrant students themselves.